Ronaldinho out of jail; placed under house arrest in a hotel

Asuncion: A Paraguayan judge on Tuesday ordered the
release of Brazilian football great Ronaldinho and his brother into house
arrest at a hotel in downtown Asuncion.

Judge Gustavo Amarilla told reporters that he had ordered
the “continuation of house arrest in a hotel for Ronaldinho and his brother.”
They were jailed exactly a month ago on Monday to await trial on charges of
using false passports to enter Paraguay. Lawyers for the men posted bail of
$1.6 million.

The ruling means the brothers can swap their grim police
cell block — which also housed Paraguay’s former soccer federation chief and
the ex-speaker of the lower house of parliament — for a plush Colonial-style
hotel in central

Asuncion.

The brochure of the refurbished 107-room Palmaroga hotel,
located in the capital’s historic center, describes it as offering “a seamless
blend of early 1900s Renaissance grace and modern comfort as well as luxury. I
have the assurance of the hotel managers that they, at their own expense, can
observe house arrest there,” Amarilla told a news conference.

Paraguay’s appeals court last month rejected a request to
release the pair, meaning the two-time world player of the year spent his 40th
birthday behind bars.

With Paraguay’s capital in lockdown due to the
coronavirus pandemic, the judge communicated his ruling in a cellphone call to
the brothers, with prosecutors and defence lawyers — and TV cameras —
present.

A beaming Ronaldinho, in a black tee-shirt and matching
headband, gave a thumbs up sign to show he understood the terms of his release.

He and his brother, Roberto de Assis Moreira — who is
also his business manager — initially encountered no problems after arriving
in Asuncion from neighboring Brazil on March 4.

However, shortly after their arrival, the brothers were
taken into police custody when investigators raided their hotel following the
discovery that their passports were fake.

Ronaldinho, given a rock star’s welcome to Asuncion by
around 2,000 children and teenagers, said the passports had been given to him
by sponsors of a charity working with disadvantaged children.

Fourteen other people have been charged in the case,
which has expanded into an investigation into possible money laundering.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the Paraguayan
businesswoman in charge of the charity foundation that invited Ronaldinho.

Ronaldinho, considered one of the greatest footballers of
all time, was a star of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win and played for European
giants Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, among others.

He has proved a popular inmate of the jail in police
headquarters, donating a trophy to the winning team in a recent prisoners’ futsal
tournament.